If you’re an American, this week you’re likely preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving – prepping food, traveling to see your family, or anything like that. And if you’re from somewhere else, you have probably seen Americans preparing for this holiday online and maybe even wish your culture would celebrate it too.

Either way, if you need some Thanksgiving spirit, this list is full of inspiration for that. It features various postcards from the past about said celebration. So, let’s take a look, but beware if you have meleagrisphobia (fear of turkeys)!

#1

Image credits: otherdavelive

#2

"Please do not annoy the family tomorrow at dinner, for children should be seen and not heard. Please reserve a Southern break away for me. Jack. "

Image credits: CV880

#3

Image credits: ewan traveler

If you’re from any country that celebrates Thanksgiving, you know what this holiday is. For the rest of the world, understanding it is a little bit trickier. So, we’re here to enlighten you.

Basically, it’s a day of giving thanks for the things that happened during the preceding year, hence the name. At least in the United States, it occurs every fourth Thursday of November. So, this year it will happen on November 28th. At the same time, in Canada, it is celebrated on the second Monday of October, and it already happened this year on October 14th.

#4

Image credits: its_m_reilly

#5

"If you like me meet me on 'Thanksgiving Day' at the dinner table. – Baby Arthur"

Image credits: Pit-Guitar

#6

Image credits: Pit-Guitar

In the US, Thanksgiving became a national holiday in 1863, even though the “first” known celebration happened in 1621. The story behind it, usually told from the white pilgrims’ point of view, is that colonists shared a meal with the indigenous Wampanoag people so that they could give thanks for a successful fall harvest.

Technically, Wampanoag members weren’t invited. When the pilgrims got rowdy during their feast, they started shooting into the air, so the indigenous group came to see if there was a need to fight and ended up joining the celebration.

#7

Image credits: Pit-Guitar

#8

Image credits: Pit-Guitar

#9

Image credits: Pit-Guitar

Granted, it should be noted that this and all similar stories should be taken with a grain of salt, as the accounts of the story have blended and it’s become too difficult to differentiate what’s true and what’s not.

Now, the holiday that was recognized in 1863 is usually celebrated with a family dinner. Typically, it includes foods like turkey, potatoes, corn, cranberries, and pumpkin pie, to name a few.

#10

Image credits: Toronto Reference Library

#11

Image credits: Pit-Guitar

#12

Image credits: apceveryday

As you can see in today’s list of vintage Thanksgiving postcards, turkeys, the birds eaten during the feast, dominate the imagery. The bird appears in nearly all of the postcards we included. But why’s that?

It’s all due to the American writer Sarah Josepha Hale, who is dubbed the godmother of Thanksgiving. After she wrote her famous book “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” she was offered a job in “Ladies’ Magazine” and became the first woman to be an editor of a magazine in the United States.

#13

Image credits: apceveryday

#14

Image credits: its_m_reilly

#15

Image credits: Pit-Guitar

During her time in this position, she wrote hundreds of letters to important people in the US asking them to make the last Thursday in November an “offer to God our tribute of joy and gratitude for the blessings of the year.” She achieved her goal when President Lincoln made Thanksgiving official.

Besides playing an important part in Thanksgiving’s recognition, Sarah also wrote in her novel “Northwood” about a turkey being the star of the holiday’s dinner table, and it remains one even more than 100 years after the writer’s death.

Well, it’s interesting and kind of beautiful to see how a dedicated woman basically created a tradition that outlived her. So, let’s go celebrate it (if you do), but not before you enjoy these vintage postcards to get you in the mood!